


A Sip Of Happiness

by erciareyes



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Magical Coffee, Magical Stiles Stilinski, Oh and a lot of Lavender, alpha!Derek, magic is known, werewolves are known
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2016-02-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 17:35:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5975587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erciareyes/pseuds/erciareyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You like lavender?" Stiles asked, turning half around to face Derek, his hand in mid-air above the blender. </p>
<p>"Nothing against it but it isn't my favorite either."</p>
<p>Stiles threw the crushed leaves into the blender with a cocky grin. "That's because you haven't tasted it my way." </p>
<p>Derek heard Erica chuckle from where she was still decorating cupcakes and shook his head. </p>
<p>"There's no use in asking a customer if he likes something if you are gonna put it in anyway." Derek said and he saw Stiles shoulders shake in a silent laugh as he went into the backroom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sip Of Happiness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nerdyderekhale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdyderekhale/gifts).



> Dear Amanda,  
> I am sorry that this is a bit rushed and hurried and definitely not the fanfic it could have been. I originally had another idea for your prompts but that would have turned out to be a multi-chapter fanfic and I just didn't have the time to write it all out, again, sorry. 
> 
> As it is, I hope you enjoy this little fanfic & get some fun out of it :)
> 
> Love,  
> Your Secret Valentine :)

"Laura, I can't just…what? What do you mean she wants more money? We had a deal, there's no way we can…okay. Okay. Yes. Tell them I'll call them back as soon as I find the time." 

Derek Hale was not a man to easily anger nor was he a man that lost control easily but in this very moment Derek Hale felt like punching through a wall. It was bad enough that this lawsuit had been going on for two years but now things had turned even worse and there was no end in sight for this battle against his ex-wife.  
He could still remember the first time he saw Kate Argent at a business party, the colorful lights complementing her skin perfectly and her smile brighter than five million stars. Peter, his uncle, had introduced them and after that things had gone from innocent to crazy pretty quickly. They fell in love and got married in the time of just a few months. Looking back he knew he'd been stupid, his family had warned him not to do anything stupid. Now, almost three years later, he wasn't sure if there was anything he'd done that hadn't been stupid. 

It had started like every relationship did. They'd gone on vacation together, Kate had moved into his apartment and it had seemed really perfect for a time. But the second the wedding band had touched her finger Kate had turned into someone Derek hadn't seen before. She had turned cold, manipulative and jealous over the smallest things and before Derek could realize what Kate wanted, she'd already tried to kill his mother and take her place as the head of Hale Industries. His mother was fine now, after a few days in the hospital but for a few hours it had been unclear if she would even survive. Luckily, Kate's plan didn't go through but it had still cut Derek deep to know that it had been kind of his fault.

He sighed as he, almost automatically, turned right and pushed an old, wooden door open. The smell of fresh coffee and tea leaves mixed with heavenly baked pastries filled his nose and he visibly relaxed. The coffee around here always made things better for him and he knew exactly why. The baristas at 'Reyes & Boyd's' were mostly witches and druids, creating customary drinks laced with spices and herbs for everyone that ordered. Erica Reyes and Vernon Boyd, the coffee shop owners, had been friends of Derek's ever since college and while Derek normally wasn't a very trusting person (especially after Kate) he knew that he could trust his friends to choose their employees carefully. 

He knew all the baristas in the coffee shop: his cousin Malia who only worked on the weekends, Isaac Lahey who normally worked whenever Malia worked for "unknown" reasons and then there was Kira Yukimura, a young kitsune who always smiled at whoever came through the door. Today however, two amber eyes stared at him as Derek looked over to the counter. Two amber eyes that he'd never seen before. 

"Good day, Sir." the young man said and gave him a bright smile. Behind him Erica walked out of the backroom with a tray of freshly baked cupcakes in hand and waved at Derek with the other. 

"Hey Derek, I see you've met Stiles, our new barista." she grinned, putting the cupcakes on one of the counters. "He's one cute piece of butt, isn't he?"  
Stiles, at least that's what Derek had understood to be his name, blushed visibly and bit his lip.  
"Not as cute as you, cat woman." he joked and Erica ruffled his hair. 

"No use flirting with me, hun, I am already taken as you know. This one however…" she pushed her fingernail into Derek's shirt. "is very much single and ready to mingle."  
Erica winked at Derek and turned with a smile on her lips to finish decorating some of the cupcakes. 

Derek turned back to Stiles who was still smiling at him as if he was waiting for something when Derek remembered that he hadn't ordered anything yet.  
He reached out his hand over the counter towards Stiles who, a bit reluctantly, put his own hand on Derek's. The second Derek felt the other man's skin on his, the hairs on his arms stood and a shiver ran over him. Stiles closed his eyes and hummed deeply. 

"Hm, seems like you had a pretty rough day. You're distressed and anxious…tense…you need some relaxation, something to calm your mind." Stiles said and Derek nodded before he remembered that Stiles couldn't see him anyway. 

"Yeah, I had some horrible meetings today and just got a phone call with bad news, too." 

Stiles nodded and hummed again. 

"I'm sorry you are having a hard time right now." Stiles said after a few minutes and for some reason Derek felt already lighter than before without even getting a drink. He looked at Stiles, who's eyes were still closed, curiously. Maybe Stiles was one of those witches that could take emotional pain or something like that, he'd heard of them before but never encountered one. 

Stiles abruptly opened his eyes and caught Derek's stare for a few seconds before Derek reverted his eyes back to their joint hands. The younger man took his fingers from his slowly and cleared his throat. 

"I know what you need." Stiles said, voice hoarse and quiet. Derek wanted to say that he was sure about that but Stiles had already turned around to start the coffee maker.  
Stiles moved his hands like he'd done this a million times before and Derek was quite sure that was true. Stiles was sure of his choices in herbs and spices, mixing things together, his beautiful fingers confidently crushing some lavender leaves between the tips. 

"You like lavender?" Stiles asked, turning half around to face Derek, his hand in mid-air above the blender. 

"Nothing against it but it isn't my favorite either."

Stiles threw the crushed leaves into the blender with a cocky grin. "That's because you haven't tasted it my way." 

Derek heard Erica chuckle from where she was still decorating cupcakes and shook his head. 

"There's no use in asking a customer if he likes something if you are gonna put it in anyway." Derek said and he saw Stiles shoulders shake in a silent laugh as he went into the backroom. 

As soon as Stiles was out of the room, Erica brought the cupcakes over to put them in the window, walking right passed Derek.

"He's cute, isn't he?" she asked again and Derek shrugged. 

He had to admit that of all the baristas in the shop, hell all the baristas he ever met in any shop, this one was for sure the cutest he had ever seen. Stiles fell right into Derek's category of liking: the cocky smile, the brown doe eyes and the moles all over his face and neck not to mention his perfect hands. Yes, Derek wouldn't every say it out loud, at least not to Erica's face, but Stiles looked like someone Derek would like to know better. 

Erica walked back to her try, passing by Stiles' blend and looked over it curiously. She smelled it before moving her fingers a bit over it, sparks flying from them. After a few seconds she nodded and turned round to Derek.

"Don't tell Stiles I changed something, I don't want him to get frustrated. There was just a tiny thing that needed to be changed but nothing dangerous, I swear. Just a taste thing." she told him and Derek made a move to show her that he wouldn't tell Stiles anything. He knew how Erica was about her employees learning in a safe space, she would probably talk to him later to avoid embarrassing Stiles in front of customers. 

Stiles danced through the backdoor, a cinnamon roll in hand and a blinding smile on his face. 

"Got the perfect dessert for you to go with your new favorite drink." he beamed and put the plate in front of Derek. He poured and mixed the coffee blend into a cup and put it next to the plate. 

"Thanks, Stiles." Derek said as he took his order and went off to sit at one of the tables. He could feel Stiles' eyes following him.

Derek sat down next to the window, his face so that he could glance up at Stiles. He smiled when he saw Stiles moving his head in the last second, he had looked at Derek too.  
From afar Derek could see more of Stiles, realized how tall and slender he was but that his shoulders and arms were still muscular. Derek looked at Stiles for a while, wondering if the moles on his face continued down his chest and legs, maybe even covered other parts of him, too. Intimate parts. 

Someone cleared their throat beside him and Derek's eyes shot up only to find Erica smirking down at him with a cupcake in her hand. 

"For Laura." she said and put the wrapped cupcake on the coffee table. For a moment she looked at him and Derek felt himself blush. 

"You know, you can ask him out if you want to." Erica began. "He's single and he's obviously attracted to you, so…" 

Derek shook his head. "I can't." 

Erica nodded knowingly and gave him another smile. "Okay. Just…don't forget that one day you'll have to let go of everything that happened with Kate. It wasn't your fault and you couldn't have known that she's a crazy bitch. Your own happiness shouldn't be a no-go forever just because you're scared of getting your heart broken again, Derek." 

Derek swallowed the lump building in his throat as he stared after Erica walking away when she spotted Boyd walking in the door. He watched them interact, watched as Erica jumped onto Boyd's waist and Boyd catching her effortlessly, pulling her into a loving kiss. The both of them, they'd always been perfect for each other in a way that he'd never seen himself with Kate. Kate and him had been…different and maybe that should have been a warning sign for him. A big, red 'Stop'- sign. He'd never felt how Boyd had described his feelings for Erica, had never found that 'pure happiness' in her eyes that Erica always talked about. Yes, in retrospect their love had never felt real but how could Derek have known at the time? He'd never been in love before he'd met Kate, had never had a girlfriend or boyfriend before. It had been easy to believe that what they had between them was real love when Kate had said it. He'd believed everything she'd said. All of it.

He grabbed his cup with a sigh, taking a sip and trying to bury his thoughts in the back of his head again. He knew that rationally it wasn't his fault. There was no way he could have known what Kate wanted to do to his mother. She'd played him just like she'd played everybody else, even her own family. Still, whenever he thought about it he asked himself if maybe he had missed something important...only to come to the conclusion that even then he wouldn't be able to change anything now. 

Derek looked in Stiles direction again. For some reason, maybe it was the drink or maybe it was Erica's words finally setting in, he felt content with that conclusion. For the first time in his life he didn't feel too bad about it. He couldn't change it now. He couldn't dwell on something that had happened so long ago, he couldn't carry these things around with him a day longer. 

He took his phone out, still staring at Stiles who was shooting him confused side glances while he served some other costumers. 

"Laura? Yeah, listen, tell her she can have whatever she wants. If she wants more money, she'll get it. I want this chapter of my life to be over and I want her out of if, too. I'll do whatever she wants." 

Derek heard Laura gasp on the other line. _"Derek, are you sure?"_

"Yes! 100 percent sure! I want this to be over." he said, his voice confident, eyes still fixated on Stiles. 

_"I am proud of you, Derek."_

He smiled as he hung up the phone and breathed out in relief. He didn't know why, he didn't know how he had finally let go and for some reason he didn't care.  
From the corner of his eyes he saw Erica and Boyd looking at him with a knowing smile and Derek guessed that they had probably heard every word he'd said, they were werewolves after all, like him. 

He took another sip of coffee before he stood up and walked over to the counter where Stiles was serving a redheaded girl, about his age. He thought he'd heard him call her 'Lydia' but he didn't really care. All he wanted to do was finally give himself a shot at happiness. 

"Go on a date with me." Derek blurted out, putting his coffee on the counter. 

Stiles froze mid sentence and for a second the redheaded girl looked shocked, too before she started smiling at Stiles. 

"You didn't tell me you had a new admirer." she grinned and Stiles shook his head.

"I…I don't." he said, still not looking at him and Derek felt his heart slowly fall, ready to take rejection when Stiles turned around abruptly. 

"What did you just say?" 

"Uhm…go on a date with me?" Derek asked again, his smile faltering already. He should have known. He really should have known.  
"I…for real?" Stiles looked at him like _he_ was the one being rejected and Derek groaned.

"Yes. For real. Go on a date with me."

Stiles stared at him, quietly.

"Please?" Derek whispered, turning his eyes to the ground. 

There were a few more seconds of silence. Stiles heart was beating so loud and so fast that Derek could nearly feel it inside his own chest. Something was rattling in Stiles' head, he was thinking and Derek suddenly felt like the second were minutes or days. He asked himself if that was how it felt to really want something, someone.  
"Yes!" 

The shop was so quiet that the words nearly echoed within it and Derek looked up in surprise. He waited for a second before smiling.

"I'll pick you up at 6?" he asked and Stiles grinned.

"You can pick me up whenever you want, there's no time that I won't follow you." 

Derek's heart did something like a jump and suddenly he knew exactly what Boyd had meant when he'd said he was 'drawn to happiness' with Erica at his side.  
This morning, Derek Hale had woken up grumpy. He hadn't slept in days, his mind had been clouded with thoughts of his ex-wife and all the things she's done to him and his family. He'd felt like for the last two years there's been not even one ray of sunshine in his life. 

It was 3:45 pm in a coffee shop in the middle of Beacon Hills and Derek Hale felt like his life had turned around completely, like the thought of someday seeing the sun again wasn't that far away anymore. He felt like he'd finally taken a step into a direction that would bring him forward instead of dragging him back. 

\-----------

Later on, when he came back to get Stiles for their first (and definitely not last) date, he felt like for the first time in a long time he would fall asleep without dreading the next day.  
"Thank you." he said when he poured Stiles a glass of wine over the dinner table. 

"For what?" Stiles asked. 

"For freeing my mind today. I know I didn't have a sudden change of mind, not like that. I know that I'd been stuck before, so…thank you." 

Stiles watched him with a funny look on his face. 

"That wasn't me, Derek." he said, matter-of-factly.

"Who was it then?" 

Stiles mouth turned into a grin.

"It was the Lavender."

Derek laughed and raised his glass. 

"To Lavender, then." 

Their glasses made a clinking noise when they came together and Stiles sipped on his wine. 

"You know, the reason I didn't say 'Yes' right away was because I was confused. I…when I made your drink I made a mistake and Erica corrected it but…if she hadn't done it your drink would have, accidently of course, I swear to god it was an accident…it would have turned into a kind of love potion and that would have been a desaster. So when you asked me to go out with you, I panicked because I didn't know if you were asking me out because of the drink or because you really wanted to."

Derek chuckled, remembering Erica correcting the potion before Stiles had come back with his cinnamon roll. 

"Stiles, there are a lot of things Lavender made me do today. Asking you out was not one of these things. Asking you out was my very own idea, no Lavender to blame."  
Stiles smiled and raised his glass for another toast. 

"To you, then. For having amazing ideas all on your own." 

And indeed, Derek thought, this one was definitely one of the best ideas he's ever had.


End file.
